READ THE CITIZENS' VOICE

Digital Only Subscription
Read the digital e-Edition of The Citizens' Voice on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at citizensvoice.com or on our mobile apps.

Digital Services
Have news alerts sent to your mobile device or email, read the e-Edition, sign up for daily newsletters, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

Contact Us
See department contacts, frequently asked questions, request customer service support, submit a photo or place an ad.

Article Tools

Sheri Prokopchak / For The Citizens' Voice
Luzerne County Manager Robert Lawton said he may adjust staffing assignments to accomodate the surge in permit requests.

Kristen Mullen / The Citizens' Voice
Luzerne County Councilman Stephen A. Urban wondered if the county is serving the public properly after seeing long lines of permit applicants.

A surge in applications for gun-carry permits is boosting revenue in Luzerne County.

The county was expecting $25,000 every three months from gun-carry permits, according the budget adopted in December. But revenue from January and February alone came in at $34,796.

Officials from across the state have said the higher demand for gun-carry permits is a result of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut late last year and the subsequent public discussion about new gun-control legislation.

In Pennsylvania, a person needs a permit to carry a weapon or transport it in a vehicle without having to take precautions like separating the ammunition from the weapon. The permit fee is $20; $5 for a replacement permit. The permit is for five years.

The Luzerne County Sheriff's Office issued 936 gun permits in January and 951 permits in February, acting Sheriff Jack Robshaw said. The monthly amount is 42 percent more than the total from April 2012, when the office issued 666 permits and collected $13,320.

Councilman Stephen A. Urban said he does not "think the public is being well served in the gun-permit area," noting "long lines" of permit applicants at the county courthouse. During the council meeting on March 19, Urban said more county employees, including employees cross-trained from other offices, should help process gun-permit applications.

"When customers wait all day, take a day off from work and wait all day, and then have to be told to come back another day, I don't think that is appropriate," Urban said. "Then there are other offices I can walk into, recorder of deeds, and I see hardly anybody there at the counters."

"Well thank you for bringing that to my attention Mr. Urban. It hasn't been raised in the manager's office before," county Manger Robert Lawton replied, adding his administration may be able to adjust staffing assignments because revenue is exceeding budgeted expectations.

Robshaw said the sheriff's office has "increased manpower during peak times through workload balancing with cross-trained deputies." But "the major problem with processing the applications is the recent increased volume of background checks being processed" by state police, he said Thursday.

"Their increased volume has created long wait times for the approval numbers provided by the state," Robshaw said. "We have experienced wait times of 30 to 45 minutes for one approval, and several times the state system has crashed, preventing us from obtaining any authorization numbers. If we were to increase the staff that handled the applications, it would not have a drastic increase on the number of applications we could process."

Some applicants came into the courthouse "a few minutes before close time to obtain a gun permit and were disgruntled because we couldn't process their application," Robshaw said.

"As with any business type operation, there are established hours of operation and budgetary restraints that dictate what type of services can be provided," Robshaw said. "We make every attempt to adhere to the budget line item revenue amounts provided by the governing body, to maintain the highest level of service at the established operational cost."

Robshaw said "fewer numbers of applicants" in recent weeks indicate "the increased volume of gun permit applications should last for a few months before returning to normal levels."

Since becoming acting sheriff in March 2012, Robshaw expanded the hours to apply for gun-permit applications and moved the application area to the courthouse from the annex across River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The hours to apply for gun permits are 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Prior to March 2012, the office had been only processing applications on Wednesday and Friday.

Controller Walter L. Griffith Jr. released an audit of the gun-permit operation last September. The sheriff's office had not processed refunds for denied gun permits since February 2012 "due to the excessive workload and lack of sufficient time to process these refunds," the audit noted.

A gun-carry permit is not required to own a firearm. Pennsylvanians can own a long gun or handgun and store them at home.

A permit allows people to carry firearms to most public places with some exceptions, such as court buildings, schools, prisons, casinos and airports.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2073

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.